Mutagenic evaluation of 1,1,2,3-tetrachloro-2-propene, a contaminant in pulp mill effluents, using a battery of in vitro mammalian and microbial tests.

The mutagenicity of 1,1,2,3-tetrachloro-2-propene (TCP), a component of chlorinated pulp mill effluents, was investigated with a battery of in vitro mammalian and microbial assays. In fluctuation tests, TCP showed potent mutagenic activity with Salmonella typhimurium strain TA1535 but only very weak activity with Escherichia coli WP2. In Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, TCP without metabolic activation induced chromosome aberrations. This activity was enhanced by the addition of Aroclor 1254-induced rat liver preparation (S9). Endoreduplication was also induced by TCP in the presence of S9. Without activation, TCP caused an increase in the number of sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs), however this increase was eliminated by S9. TCP did not cause DNA damage in CHO cells as measured by alkaline sucrose gradient sedimentation either with or without metabolic activation.